Planning protection for ancient woods

The Woodland Trust has welcomed plans to change the national planning policy framework to provide more robust protection for habitats such as ancient woods that have existed for at least 400 years.

England has been “haemorrhaging” irreplaceable ancient woods, often due to a lack of clarity in the wording of planning policy

Much of the pressure on ancient woodland is not from housing, but small developments such as phone masts, holiday lodges, waste disposal or leisure facilities targeted at woodland because it is 50% cheaper than agricultural land. This is potentially a huge step forward and one that the Government must be given due credit for, following through on their manifesto commitment.